


Grief and Ashes

by funnygirlthatbelle13



Category: The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Gen, Iron dad and Spider son, Tony Stark Needs a Hug, everyone is sad thanks to thanos
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-31
Updated: 2018-05-31
Packaged: 2019-05-16 08:59:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,296
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14808273
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/funnygirlthatbelle13/pseuds/funnygirlthatbelle13
Summary: “All things of grace and beauty such that one holds them to one’s heart have a common provenance in pain. Their birth in grief and ashes.”- Cormac McCarthy Post-Infinity War: After the snap, the Avengers begin to come together in an attempt to make something worthwhile out of all of their suffering.





	Grief and Ashes

Nebula pressed a pale blue button, putting the ship she had procured on auto-pilot. Much like the ship, she herself had been on auto-pilot for the past several hours. She had been on auto-pilot when she had contacted Kraglin to pick her up on Titan, she had been when she ignored his questions about Quill and the others, she had been when she stole the abandoned ship they had found in order to cover their tracks on their way to Tarin, and she had been that way as she used the raccoon’s tech to set coordinates so they could meet up with him. And she did all of that while dragging along the only other survivor from Titan the human who had somehow earned Thanos’ respect. 

Stark sat in the corner of the ship, clutching his hands to his chest, desperately holding on. He was almost completely silent, occasionally whispering the name of the child he had brought with him or a quiet ‘why.’

He had gone into this state of shock minutes after everyone around them had crumbled into dust. She could not help but grow frustrated with his uselessness. After all the years she had served Thanos, she still hadn’t earned his respect. But this man, supposedly one of Earth’s mightiest heroes who could not even contain his grief, had gotten the respect she had so desperately fought for? Yet there was something about this man, with his complete shutdown, that she oddly respected. In her line of work, emotion was stomped out of you as soon as possible. Emotion made you vulnerable, and vulnerability led to mistakes. But to see this man so completely overcome with emotion, it reminded her of the scared little girl she had once been. 

“We will be arriving on Tarin in six hours,” she informed the two men onboard. Kraglin grunted in appreciation as the man behind them clung even tighter to what was in his hands.

“We should prob’ly try an’ rest up before we get there,” Kraglin suggested. She nodded tightly.

“That would be wise.”

***

Lightyears away in Wakanda, the few remaining Avengers sat in Shuri’s lab, drinking tea as they lamely discussed strategy. 

“We don’t know where he is or how to beat him; we’re stuck,” Bruce said helplessly. 

Suddenly, a phone began to ring. Or, at least, what sounded like a phone. The device Rocket the Raccoon pulled out looked like no phone they’d ever seen. 

“Hello? Nebula? How’d you get this- alright. Where’d you find- were you with- okay. I’ll tell them.”

“Well?” asked Steve Rogers, sitting in the corner.

“One of my friends is coming with one of your friends.”

***

The whole crew of Avengers, Wakandan soldiers, and Rocket went out to meet the ship as it landed. The first to step out was a strange looking man with a metallic red mohawk.

“Hey,” he said awkwardly.

“Have you heard from Quill and the others?” Rocket asked quietly. He shook his head.

Next was a blue woman who looked more mechanical than organic.

“Hey, Nebula,” Rocket greeted half-heartedly. 

Then the third and most shocking member of their party unboarded.

“Tony?” Bruce whispered. 

Steve stepped forward and clasped his former friend’s shoulder. 

“Are you alright?” he asked quietly, examining the dark circles under the genius’ eyes. 

“Well, I got a moon thrown at me,” he offered lamely. 

“An entire moon?” Shuri gasped, her eyes alight with excitement for the first time since the battle.

“Nope, not happening. We are not bringing kids into this,” Tony all but shouted, a trembling hand pointing at the princess.

“Hello, pot,” Rhodey called out, “How old is Spider-man?”

“What happened to him? I haven’t seen him since New York,” Bruce commented. 

“Wait, we were fighting a kid?”

Tony’s slight trembling turned into full-on shaking. His eyes, which already had had a sheen to them now threatening to overflow. One hand still desperately formed a fist clutching at his chest. The knees of the genius billionaire began to buckle underneath him.

“Oh my god,” Steve whispered, “Tony.”

No sooner had his name been spoken than Tony passed out in Steve’s arms.

***

Tony was fast asleep in bed, his arm wrapped around Pepper. Suddenly, he heard the sound of tiny footsteps heading towards their bedroom.

“Daddy! Daddy!” a tiny voice squealed. 

He opened his eyes to see a baby girl running towards him. As she jumped into his arms, he felt all his tension melt away. As he hugged his little girl, he heard another set of feet running towards them.

“Morgan, I told you to let him sleep! Sorry, Dad.”

Tony looked up from Morgan’s embrace to see Peter standing in the doorway. Smiling, Tony gestured to the bed. 

“Room for one more.”

Peter, with a small dorky smile on his face, also jumped on the bed, finally waking up Pepper.

“How’d a guy like me get such a great family?” he wondered aloud, squeezing Pepper’s hand as he did so. But as he held it, he felt her slowly slipping into nothingness. To his horror, where Pepper had been now only had a pile of ash on it. He turned back to see that his lap, which had previously held his little girl, now also had a pile of ash.

“Mr. Stark, I don’t feel so good.”

He barely had enough time to turn before seeing his boy crumple at his feet. 

“Why didn’t you save me?” Peter whispered before becoming nothing more than dust. 

***

“Tony! Tony,” he heard an all-too familiar voice whispering to him, dragging him out of his nightmare. 

“Steve?” he muttered as he opened his eyes.

“Yeah, it’s me, Tony.”

Finally, he had the wherewithal to look around and try to figure out where he was.

“We’re in the palace in Wakanda,” Steve began to explain, but Tony didn’t care. He had noticed that his palm was upturned and empty. 

“Pete,” he whispered, “Oh my god.”

“Sh, sh, sh,” Steve reassured him gently, placing a hand on his chest, “You’re okay.”

“No, I’m not. I’m not fucking okay. I lost my-”

“You didn’t lose him, Tony. After you passed out, we took the ashes.”

Tony stared at him in utter shock. Steve sighed and, from under his blue shirt pulled out a necklace Tony had never seen before. The chain was vibranium and the pendant was a red star made out of stone.

“Sargent Barnes-”

“Into ashes, like your kid. T’Challa’s sister Shuri has been making them out of the… for us.”

Tony nodded, his throat tight.

“So, who all-”

“Bucky,” Steve interrupted, “And Sam. Wanda and Vision, too. T’Challa as well; that’s-”

“Captain Rogers!”

It was the young girl from before. 

“Tony, this is Princess Shuri.”

“Your Highness,” Tony said, sitting up as he did so.

“Mr. Stark,” she said with a nod, “I made this for you.”

She handed him a necklace with a tiny black pendant shaped like a spider. Tony fought back tears as he stared down at what was left of his pride and joy, the comfort of his age, and hope for the future. 

“Thank you,” he said, looking up at the girl as tears began to pour, “And I’m sorry about your brother.”

“Thank you, Mr. Stark,” Shuri replied, tugging at her own necklace. The center had a black cat’s paw with the chain was gold with what looked like decorative claws. “And I’m sorry about your son. That we cannot save him.”

Tony took a deep breath, closing his eyes as he did so.

“No, but we can damn well avenge him,” he said, standing as he did so.

“Let’s go,” Steve said.

The three of them walked out together, more determined than ever. From the dust of their loved ones, some good would rise.


End file.
